Right place, right time - a landlord/tenant success story.

[developer]

Over the weekend I had two tenants move out of a two bed house they have been renting from me for the last three years (they are buying elsewhere).

A great shame for me as they were model tenants, and I have to find new people.

The next door neighbour (a 75 year old gent with a terminal illness) rang me as they were moving out to explain his sister, with a disabled daughter, was about to made homeless because her landlord had not been paying the mortgage company, with the rent she'd been paying him.
Not only that but she'd only come back to Birmingham from Blackpool in November last year, to be closer to her family, following the death of her husband. Not a good place to be at 59.

After going to see her to gather some information, I spoke to the solicitors in charge of the repossession, who confirmed that they were acting on behalf of Northern Rock, and further confirmed that she was a tenant and not in any way involved in the repossession.

I also spoke to the local Neighbourhood Office to confirm that she had presented herself to them as about to be made homeless - again, this checked out.

Long story short - she takes up her tenancy this weekend.

She and her disabled daughter get a house next to her brother and is no longer potentially homeless - happy her, happy daughter, happy brother.

I get a quality tenant who is likely to stay there for a very long time, a property only empty for one week, and no agent/advertising fees, timewasters.

As Errol said, everyone's a winner

 

[davidjpowell]

Nice when it all works out....

 

[Chrishazle]

So, are you expanding your empire by also buying the repo she'd been evicted from? Know a guy in Sussex who made money renovating flats, selling them then buying them back when they were repossessed - then he rented them to DHSS with the rent coming directly to him! He lived in a beautiful old beamed farmhouse, drove a very nice Jag - and wifie had a new Range Rover!

 

[developer]

So, are you expanding your empire by also buying the repo she'd been evicted from? Know a guy in Sussex who made money renovating flats, selling them then buying them back when they were repossessed - then he rented them to DHSS with the rent coming directly to him! He lived in a beautiful old beamed farmhouse, drove a very nice Jag - and wifie had a new Range Rover!

It's not for me - a not very nice area I'm afraid.

Interestingly though, the one she is moving into I bought as a repo.

 

[Dieselman]

That's certainly convenient. How are you generally for voids?

 

[developer]

That's certainly convenient. How are you generally for voids?

Yes, it was very convenient and a rare but welcome occurance.

Voids are always a problem but I try to get reasonable people and offer reasonable accommodation, which minimises them somewhat.

 

[Dieselman]

A friend of mine has a couple of properties and has avoided voids completely. Someone else has a number of properties (40-50) and had no problems with voids until a couple of years ago, then had quite a few tenant problems.

 

[developer]

This poor woman was receiving letters addressed to the property owner which she duly passed on.

Then a month ago she received the same letter but addressed to "The Occupier".

Upon opening it she found it was a notice of bailiff attendance on 20th October to repossess the property. That was the first she knew .

 

[Dieselman]

I know someone who had a similar circumstance, but I think he knew as he was paying cheap rent in cash.